RV Air Conditioner or Fan Won’t Start? DIY Easy Fix

35 thoughts on “RV Air Conditioner or Fan Won’t Start? DIY Easy Fix”

• Customer of mine who has owed a very reputable RV dealership for decades advised me long ago “clean AC coils AND drip pans every year. KEEP SPARE REPLACEMENT CAPACITORS IN RV/CAMPER. Not a matter of if they go bad, it’s when they go bad and it’s typically a hot holiday weekend adventure when they do.”

• I have a resistor melted downs I can't read the info on it . to replace it what do I need to replace it with ??? info to get one ??

• Dear Dan, I have the same ac unit as you, I would like to know when using a dual run capacitor, the Brown and Brown/ White wires for the fan motor will connect to which terminal’s on the capacitor?

• Great video, thanks!

• Thank you so much for this video!! I can't imagine how much this would cost if I had to take it to the repair shop. It was so easy.

• Thank you, this fixed the AC problem in my wife's RV office.

• What number is the little square after the capacitor? Because on my I can't see the numbers

• Wanted to say thank you so very much for this amazing informative video regarding these capacitors. Of course, I am sure it goes without saying today was the day to turn on my A/C in my RV and wella it produced the dreadful hummmmmm. Turned it off right away, went to "You Tube University" where I have obtained my PHD due to living full time in my RV and found your channel. Subscribed, used your links to order the caps Yep you guessed it all 3 of them, however since you did your video a year ago 2 of the 3 needed are not available so I had to buy different brands to obtain same ratings. Once again thank you, parts arrive tomorrow, AC on tomorrow evening:))))

• Thanks for the video! You said replace the pzt if your having startup issues. What is that?

• and you be blessed also. Great video and spot on. Thank You !!!

• Having a puzzling issue and hoping what I've ordered will work. But I have a Emerson quiet Kool system, it's 3 speed and from the 90s. First issue was motor would hum and not spin when on, had the start capacitor fail. Ordered one, but it had the wrong MFD (higher than what it came with) but installed anyway. AC worked for about a month. Issue reoccured suddenly, motor was running and then stopped (same issue as before). Replaced start capacitor with proper one, didn't work. Compressor turns on no issue, just the fan motor doesn't. I've now ordered the run capacitor and the relay, think that'll do it?

• Here’s my situation. The ac first started with an issue working just in fan and not on auto. I cleaned it well, vacuumed and worked well for about a month. Then started failing again, it would stop while running, like if it wasn’t getting enough power, or like when a camel is lose and doesn’t make good contact. I cleaned it again and this time I washed it as best as I could. It worked fine for a day, but today it started doing the same thing. Starts then loses power and goes off.
  Do you think that’s the capacitor related issue?

• Our fan is working the air won't blow cold and we already changed capacitor and wires and it's not working still tripping breaker

• So on mine all I hear is pound humm the fan feels free but does not spin ..it spins with my hand but no go

• Do you have any videos diagnosing an RV AC that made a terrible sound and the quit?

• What kind do I need for a dometic 2015 r-pod 179 please.

• So our ac is not blowing out cold air but sounds like the fan is on. What could be the problem or idea of problems?

• Thank you for this! Thank you for showing how to do it and explaining it thoroughly.

• I replaced the smaller of the 2 capacitors and the fan still won't work. Could it be the larger capacitor??
  The AC compressor makes a humming sound but no fan.

• What brand/model is this AC unit? I have a Dometic Brisk Air duo therm. It looks very similar to the one in this video. Just wondering if I can go ahead and order these caps without climbing up on the roof first.

• Hi Dan, you mentioned "if you have compressor start up issues, replace the pzt as well". Can you please specify what is the pzt? My rooftop coleman mach ac will make a buzzzing/humming noise but cant seem to kick on fully. I am about to purchase the run and start capacitors but not sure if I need to replace pzt? (what exactly is this?) Thanks for your help!!

• Your video was stellar for helping us diagnose! THANK YOU! However, I'm having trouble finding a 45/12uf/370 capacitor for our 2005 Carrier A/C. (Yes, ancient, but up until a few weeks ago, it was running like a champ! Now it hums, but the fan won't kick over.) Capacitors are much cheaper than a whole new unit, so wondering how we go about replacing this. We opened her up and discovered the capacitor is a combo, so it has the three ports on top. The closest replacement I found on Amazon was a 45/10. Will that suffice? Any thoughts or help would be appreciated! Thanks!

• Thank you, have the exact same setup and the exact same problem. Will be attacking the job soon. Thanks again

• Thanks for a great video. It looks like what I need to do. I ran mine hard last year during the record heat wave and I went to test it this year and the fan doesn't kick on anymore. I would guess it is the start capacitor. I'll have to take a gander.

• What about if the ac unit won't star even if your capacitors are good? Is there other things that could be bad

• When we first bought our 5th wheel we noticed that nothing other than the fan would turn on. You had to turn it to cold and basically walk away. I understand these things have a delay but my times ranged from instant to up to 30 minutes before the compressor would start. Haven't fixed that yet but now last year the fan started acting up. Acting like it wasn't getting enough power, I had to take the inside cover off and give it a spin and then it would take off an go.
  Fast forward to now. Still have to give the fan a good spin before it takes off and goes but then after about 10 minutes the fan shuts down. I believe I still hear the compressor running.
  Is that something to do with the run capacitors? I bought all 3. Going to change them out tomorrow. I just keep thinking maybe the fan itself is bad and drawing too much and something shuts it down.

• Sir, i was looking to achieve this procedure…can you tell me what are the parts number for run and start and fan competitors so i can order them from Amazon….thanks
  David

• So, the capacitor on mine "should" look the same as the one with the VR. VR is literally toast, lol! My question is, mine says 43-52 MFD. Is it going to make a big difference on the MFD numbers if I replace it with the linked combo?
  Also, the link description states that it only works for Coleman AC, did they buy duo therm maybe?

• I think I need to switch mine out. Since we got ours, the compressor during startup will start up when it wants. Now last fall I had to keep spinning the fan. Now today I had to spin the fan but then after about 10 minutes the fan would shut down. Leaving the compressor running.

• That's what she said lol

• I have what appears to be the same AC. The capacitors are good. The fan spins freely by hand. Neither the fan nor the compressor starts or makes any noise. The breaker is closed. There is voltage at the capacitors. Do you know if there is a reset button somewhere? or any other thoughts? Thank you!

• Thank you. Our fan just stopped working. Once we’re home I’m going to swap out the capacitors. Fingers crossed.

• found this really useful. showed us exactly what the problem was. thank you so much

• Excellent video

• Nicely done! Thank you!

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